Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tim G Benton

@timgbenton.bsky.social

560 followers 650 following 0 posts

Independent, formerly Research Director at Chatham House and professor at University of Leeds. Food-climate-nature-politics-sustainability

Videos

Environmental science 39%

Biology 21%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Tim G. Benton

Faculty of Biological Sciences @bioscienceleeds.bsky.social · 23h

🌏A major new report from @afnnetwork.bsky.social calls for biggest transformation of UK food since World War 2.

News story here ▶️ bit.ly/472Ltwt and key recommendations in thread below 👇

@timgbenton.bsky.social @globalfoodleeds.bsky.social @priestleycentre.bsky.social #WorldFoodDay

3 6

Reposted by Tim G. Benton

AFN Network+ @afnnetwork.bsky.social · 1d

1/ How should the UK respond to mounting pressure from climate change, health problems, and global instability? Our Roadmap for Resilience report calls for rapid and urgent action on food, at a scale not seen since WW2.

Full report: tinyurl.com/369s6wuy

#UKFoodPlan2050 #AFNRoadmap

The title of the image is A national opportunity for positive transformational change. The image shows a vision for how land, diet and farming could be transformed by 2050, with farming which is more mixed, low carbon tech and more resilient, land where farming and livestock are more integrated, peatlands restored and landscapes are being used for multiple purposes. And diets where people are shopping and fruit and green veg is more accessible. Text on the image shows that if these three transformations can be achieved, then they will result in benefits including billions saved in healthcare, strengthened national resilience, healthy food, improved water quality, new rural jobs and enhanced biodiversity.

2 5 3

Reposted by Tim G. Benton

Gawen Jenkin @gawenjenkin.bsky.social · May 15

Fantastic workshop yesterday led by @timgbenton.bsky.social imagining our possible environmental futures with a team from across the university. Thought provoking and sobering.

A rare moment of how I always imagined university should be! You know it has been good when 4 hours goes in a flash

A future scenario for planet Earth - self-sufficiency for security. An unstable conflict-ridden world with countries retreating into isolationism.

What I called the 1984 scenario

1 1 1

Reposted by Tim G. Benton

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Nov 27

Not even close 😥 I tried to show the size of removals given a delay in this animation 👇 related to the amount of BECCS assumed in size of EU (note that this is for a 67% chance not a 50% chance as per Glen's figure). Used Climate Action Tracker for the national targets.

3 13

Reposted by Tim G. Benton, Carl J. Percival

Ed Hawkins @edhawkins.org · Nov 21

Summer UK temperatures have warmed faster than global average temperature.

But the very hottest days have warmed 4x faster than the global average, especially in south-east England.

Global warming is not "just" 1°C or 2°C. The effects of climate change are non-linear, especially for extremes.

Maps showing warming for each UK county for typical summer days (left) and hottest days (right), with darker reds and faster warming for the hottest days especially in south-east England.

19 200 650

Reposted by Tim G. Benton

Tim Osborn @timosbornclim.bsky.social · Nov 20

New paper by Sebastian Sippel and colleagues provides evidence that the SST component of most current global temperature datasets is too cold during (roughly) 1900-1930.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Early-twentieth-century cold bias in ocean surface temperature observations - Nature

Independent statistical reconstructions of the global mean surface temperature from either ocean or land data show that existing estimates of early-twentieth-century ocean surface temperatures are too...

doi.org

2 26 65

Reposted by Tim G. Benton

Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · Nov 20

Important new study shows that current climate models underestimate the human-caused slowing of the #AMOC (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation), because they neglect freshwater influx from Greenland melt and other sources. /1 🌊
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation driven by subarctic freshening since the mid-twentieth century - Nature Geoscience

Fresh meltwater entering the Labrador and Irminger seas has resulted in a slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since the 1950s, according to a combination of modelling approaches...

www.nature.com

40 550 1.2K

Reposted by Nathalie Pettorelli, Tim G. Benton, Gordon Walker

Carbon Brief @carbonbrief.org · Nov 18

Mapped: How climate change affects extreme weather around the world | @rtmcswee.carbonbrief.org @ayeshatandon.carbonbrief.org

🎨 Kerry Cleaver, Tom Pearson @tomoprater.carbonbrief.org

Read here: https://buff.ly/4eFnQus

Studies of almost 750 events and trends reveal the impact of climate change on extreme weather.

6 150 280

Reposted by Tim G. Benton

AFN Network+ @afnnetwork.bsky.social · Nov 11

If you want to find out what #COP29 could mean for food and farming, read our latest briefing. Co-lead Tim Benton spoke to our knowledge exchange fellow Jez Fredenburgh to give us his assessment.
👉 tinyurl.com/22j7fm46

DIGEST: What does COP29 mean for food and farming? - AFN Network+

As UNFCC COP29 kicks off in Azerbaijan, an oil-producing, authoritarian state. What could negotiations this year, mean for food and farming? Our co-lead, Prof Tim Benton, has spent much of his career...

tinyurl.com

1 6